In the late 1600s, Europe found itself bogged down in war. The governments of the old world needed to devote every economic and military resource to their own survival, which meant that their loose colonies in the new world would no longer be viable. In the absence of power, a number of pirates and privateers stepped forward to claim the Caribbean as their own, but only one could truly rule it…

We’re going with the classic rules this time. There are no happiness or resources to worry about. People are free to expand once per round, but expansion is limited to local areas without the “navigator” specialization. Alliances can be formed, but they do not provide any official bonuses. I realize that this is a much smaller map than we’re used to, but I figure this game will only last about a month or so to give Johnny more time. To create your character, just post the following…

Nation Name
Character Name
Specialization
Color
Starting Territory – Just Describe It To The Best Of Your Ability

In warfare, 1D20 will be rolled for all participants, with the winner advancing a certain amount based on the size differentials of the rolls. Long distance wars will take two rounds to initiate without the "navigator" specialization.

Specialization

Cannoneer: Your knowledge of sea warfare gives you +2 to all sea based warfare rolls.

Navigator: Your knowledge of the Caribbean allows you to capitalize on key navigational routes, allowing you to ignore distance in land claims and warfare.

Old World Ties: Your connections with the old world gave you a power base when they withdrew their forces, allowing you to start with two different territories.

Saboteur: Your knowledge of sabotage allows you to undermine another captain’s efforts, giving them a -2 penalty to warfare rolls, but only if you are not at war with them. Sabotages will be performed in private and have a 100% success rate.

Skirmisher: Your knowledge of land warfare gives you +2 to all land based warfare rolls.

Ahoy lads! Welcome to the Carribean! Cast off your loyalty to your virgin queen and swear your fealty to me! The English have long looked down on us, even me with my Scottish blood! Lo and behold though, that having taken care of the English supply lines, we have no loyalty to any nation! Instead, we must continue to expand and search as ever for treasure...and perhaps a map to the fabled land of the Fountain of Youth!

Good day, ladies and gentlemen of the New World. Or 'ahoy' as you nautical types might say. Welcome to your first day as citizens of the crown. My crown, to be exact. Which belongs to me, not the fool that calls himself King back in England. Though I suppose I should thank him, really. If not for his mistake in charging me, his most 'loyal' general, with the protection of 'his' colonies here, I might never have been in position to seize the power I was so clearly born to wield. But no matter. He is thousands of miles and an ocean away, so forget him. And, to reiterate, I am King here. See that you do not forget that.

Now, someone build me a castle. And fetch me a map. I need to start working out plans for Columbia's expansion...

Rattle Head says he's going to join. I'll remind him to sign up later today.

Also, I should mention that our internet connection remains unreliable and usually slow. It tends to have a hard time loading Toonzone, so there's a chance we might miss a round from time to time. Or it might suddenly become blazingly fast and we won't need to miss anything. I've given up trying to predict the damn thing. I don't expect it to be much of a problem, but figured I should let you know just in case.

Interesting. With so many players on a small map, things should get exciting fairly quickly. I'm tempted to try to expand the map, but there aren't very many blank maps of the Caribbean. Perhaps quick excitement will be a good thing. I'll start the game sometime tomorrow, likely around 8:00 PM like these games are usually updated.

And so it begins. The map was actually bigger than I gave it credit for. I still suspect that things will get crazy rather quickly, but there is room to grow a bit before you all go to war. Also, please note the scale at the bottom left of the map. If you try to claim land or declare war on a target that is over 600 miles away, it will take you two turns for that action to go into effect unless you have the Navigator bonus.

...and those expansion plans are officially worked out. Right ho, troops! Move out and plant my flag in Southern Columbia.

And unless I am very much mistaken, this will make us neighbors with this Emperor Raven fellow. Hail and well met, Mr. Raven! Congratulations on sharing a border with the greatest nation history has ever known.